Minds matter: Psychology of

language learning
Sarah Mercer
OUP PD Webinars
April 2018
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Minds matter: Psychology of
language learning
Sarah Mercer
OUP PD Webinars
April 2018
What do you need to
be a good teacher?

Image: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/388435536588395673/
 Two most influential factors in teaching:
The learner and the teacher (Hattie, 2009)
• The human element!

All pictures from Pixabay unless otherwise stated

 What is psychology?
“the scientific study of how the human mind
works and how it influences behaviour”
(http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/psychology)
 Why psychology?
– "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking
makes it so." Shakespeare (Hamlet)

– "The greatest discovery of my generation is that

human beings can alter their lives by altering their
attitudes of mind." William James (1842-1910)
“...psychologically wise teachers can make a
huge difference to the lives of their learners”
(Duckworth, 2016, p. 218)

EVERY SINGLE DAY!

 2 Gs and 3 Cs
• Growth mindset
• Grit

• Competence
• Control
• Connectedness
 Mindsets
(Dweck, 2006; Dweck et al., 1995)

• Implicit theories
– Fixed mindset
• Attributes regarded as static or fixed

– Growth mindset
• Attributes regarded as being more malleable
 Two mindsets

Graphic from: http://www.centreforconfidence.co.uk

 A growth mindset
It is ok to have Failure is an
to work hard at opportunity to
something I welcome learn
constructive
feedback which
will help me
improve

I can develop
I am happy to my abilities
try new things – through effort
I want to master and strategy
Failure is no
things, rather
threat to self
than just display
ability
 5 key strategies for growth mindset
• Discuss mindsets explicitly
• Teach how brain behaves like a muscle
• Monitor teacher talk and feedback strategies
• Create culture – “Mistakes most welcome”
• Promote the power of yet (Dweck, 2014)
• Teach strategies of how to learn
 Grit
Grit = passion + perseverance
towards long-term goals

1. Passion
2. Perseverance
3. Long-term goals
Language learning
 Passion
• If persist, do so for good reason
• Follow your passion
– Let students bring in their passions – Value all equally!
– Model passion - What is yours?
– Help learners find value in learning language
• Relevance, importance, utility, possible costs, and/or
interest (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002)
Find time to talk about the...
 Long-term goals
• Finding purpose
• Work on goals that realistic and achievable
• Combine short- and long-term goal planning
• Think through pathways to achieve goals

Graphic: http://www.shibaram.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NEW_SMART-graphic.png
 Perseverance
• Not all goals are worth persevering at
• Sometimes, need to know when to quit
• Do not persevere at all things at all costs
• Recognise nature and magnitude of obstacles
 Perseverance
Recognising importance of perseverance is not new...

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

 Perseverance
• Scaffold
• Celebrate progress and perseverance
• Discuss the nature of struggling
• Look at role models of perseverance
 2 Gs and 3 Cs
• Growth mindset
• Grit

• Competence
• Control
• Connectedness
Whether you think you can
or you think you can’t...

You’re right.

Henry Ford
 A sense of Competence
• A learner’s feeling they can cope with and ultimately
succeed in their learning
– Success breeds success – BUT effortful success
– Make learning progress visible
– Work with formative assessment
– Spot learner strengths explicitly (Linley, 2008)
– Hold high expectations for all learners – Not equal
• “High challenge, low threat”! (Myatt, 2016)
 Knowing & esteeming strengths
– Think of a specific learner you currently work with:
• What is his/her especially good at?
• What makes this learner special?
• How could you help them build on these strengths?
 A sense of Control
• Over what happens to them
– Build in choice and voice
– Attribute successes and failures to factors within their
control and malleable
• Over their impulses (see Baumeister & Tierney, 2011)
– Remove distractions – control environment
– Plan for what-if scenarios
– Create ‘habits’ and ‘routines’
– Recognise self-control can be depleted... Like energy
 Connectedness
• Need to feel connected to teacher, peers,
institution and the language per se
 How does your institution...
• create a ‘sense of belonging’ to those who
learn (and teach) there? (Baumeister & Leary, 1995)
 Building relationships with learners
(Gkonou & Mercer, 2017)
• Promote mutual trust and respect
• Be empathetic
• Attend to learner individuality
• Become a better communicator
– Be ‘people curious’
– Be interested, not interesting (Knight, 2016)
– Be an active, constructive listener
– Ask open questions
– Extend your wait time
Fostering positive group dynamics
 Fostering positive group dynamics
• Work with ice breakers and team building tasks
• Think about seating arrangements
• Mix up partners from time to time
• Teach positive communication patterns
• Include collaborative tasks – do not assume group
work means cooperation – reflect on roles and rules
• Zero tolerance policy for ‘uncollegial’ behaviour
• Find reason to celebrate together as group
 2 Gs and 3 Cs
• Growth mindset
• Grit

• Competence
• Control
• Connectedness
 Minds matter

I teach people, not languages

 Thank you

• If you wish to read more about language learning psychology,

please see:

•
 Thank you for taking part

We look forward to welcoming you to

more OUP webinars in the future
www.oup.com/elt/events

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